


Tale of Two Brothers

by Feather_OFA_Wolf



Category: Original Work
Genre: Adopted Sibling Relationship, F/M, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Panic Attacks, Sorry Not Sorry, Strangers to Brothers, mama Melisa will give them all the hugs, these boys need lots of hugs, why is that not a tag?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-02
Updated: 2019-04-02
Packaged: 2019-12-31 22:29:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,870
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18323237
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Feather_OFA_Wolf/pseuds/Feather_OFA_Wolf
Summary: This is the story of two orphan boys as they learn to over their fears of post-trauma, while learning to trust each other.  Being the first adopted by a kind woman named Melisa Fabian, Alistair Prince-Fabian is both nervous and excited about meeting his new sibling. Will everything go as planned?





	Tale of Two Brothers

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone! Thank you all for bearing with me, I was busy with school and life, but I will try to post every month. I bring you a new story: Tale of Two Brothers.
> 
> WARNING: There are mentions of bullying and two scenes describing a panic attack. Please proceed with caution, if you don't want to read these topics, then don't read it. Thank you
> 
> Anyways, enjoy the story and write a comment at the end. I want to hear your thoughts and opinions.
> 
> ~ Feather

Tired lime-coloured eyes watch the morning sun lazily stretch across the horizon, casting the New York buildings with a low glow making the windows shimmer and glitter under the sun’s rays. The crisp summer breeze tugs at sandy, ginger hair, ruffling the short strands into a frizzy mess. A fourteen-year-old boy leans forward on the balcony stairs, closing his eyes as he rests most of his weight on his crossed arms and listens to the city streets come to life. Even in the early morning hours, New York streets are always buzzing with constant traffic, and the sidewalks have many people milling around; either in a fancy business suit talking on their phones or casually wearing tank-tops and hanging out with friends. New York in the summer can heat up considerably making the nights restless for the many tourists. However, the change in weather rarely affects the residents anymore. 

In one of the apartment building bordering Central Park, tired lime eyes open to the sound of his alarm clock inside his room. {*BEEP*BEEP*BEEP*BEEP*} His alarm clock screams from his bedside relentlessly. The teen lets out an exasperated sigh and heads back inside of his plain white room. With a firm slap, the clock finally stops screaming. The green-eyed boy moves around his soft beige-coloured bed and looks out his window — streaks of gold and red paint the sky. A new day is beginning, and today is an important day for the young boy. ‘Today,’ he thinks to himself ‘I will finally meet my new brother or sister.’  
The boy makes his way out of his room and looks into the mirror on the wall, quickly combing a hand through his curly hair and straightening the white shirt underneath his favourite light brown sweater, brushing of specks of dirt off his jeans. He hurries downstairs with a smile on his face, rushing down to the kitchen where his mom is already cooking breakfast eggs and hash brown. He sits at the round wooden table and waits for breakfast to finish.

“Good morning Alistair,” calls his mother, Melisa from the stove.  
“ ‘Morning mom,” Alistair mumbles tiredly, cover a loud yawn with his hand. His mother looks back at him, a single brow raising in a questioning manner. Alistair quickly smiles a wide toothy grin, causing his mother to turn back with a small chuckle.  
“You didn’t stay up all night did you?” his mother scolds him. “Don’t forget we are going to the orphanage today Alistair to meet your new sibling, and I can’t have you falling on your feet.”  
“How could I forget mom,” Alistair says. “I'm just nervous about going to the orphanage.”  
“Oh, Alistair dear,” Melisa says, immediately understanding his worry. “You’ll see, it is going to go great,” Melisa tries to reassure. “You’re going to meet a lot of new kids, and I’ll be by your side the entire time.”

Alistair’s mom comes around with their eggs and hash-brown breakfast. She places the plates on the table, then pulls the teen in a crushing hug. It took a while to get used to using to Melisa’s regular physical shows of affection and her overall caring nature. It took even longer to come to terms with the negative thoughts associated with the orphanage, mainly because of the abuse he went through as an orphan himself. He used to be shy and flinch away from her gentle touches during the first few months after Melisa adopted him. He could tell she worked hard to get through the adoption process while letting him adjust and move at his own pace. He will always be grateful for her patience. 

Now, after living with his mom for the past three years, and officially being her son, he loves the constant affection she shows him. He hugs her back with equal force and lets her soothing voice calm his jittering nerves. They eat their breakfast with light chatter, mainly Melisa maintaining a conversation while Alistair nods along. Although it helps ease him down, the boy still feels uneasy about their trip. After they finish eating and clean away the table, the two put on their coats and start the short drive to the nearest orphanage. 

~ — ~ — ~ —~ — ~ — ~ — Car Ride Time-Skip ~ — ~ — ~ — ~ — ~ — ~ —

Melisa pulls the car into a free parking space in front of the Children's Aid - Frederick Douglass Centre. In front of the building, Melisa looks at her son with a sympathetic smile at his nervous expression. Together, they make their way to the front desk. Since she already notified the orphanage of their arrival, Melisa has a quick talk with the receptionist and a guide is immediately provided for them. As the guide takes them to the room where they can meet the orphans, he talks about the orphanages founding and recommendations when choosing one of the kids. However, neither Melisa or her son pay much attention to what the guide says. 

“How do you feel sweetie?” she whispers to Alistair.  
“Better,” is all he says in a quiet tone. Melisa ruffles his curly hair, getting him to giggle and smile up at her. She smiles too, satisfied with her action and looks around the halls once again.  
“…And most of the kids we receive have a history of past trauma. But, we have great counselling programs in place to help each individual who comes through our doors. Over here is the cafeteria where the kids come to eat and-”  
“Excuse me, what?” I ask, interrupting the guide. “What do you mean by past trauma?”

“Ah, well. The children you will meet all lost their parents in an accident one way or another,” says the guide, oblivious to the tension that is forming. “There are a few exceptions, of course, but… It’s quite sad seeing so many young lives affected by death. Oh! I’m so sorry!” The sombre mood slowly gets to them; however, by then, I can feel Alistair gripping my shirt. I purse my lips in a line and pull him closer to me; I was hoping to avoid this. I give the guide a mean look, causing them to shut their mouth and hurry forward wisely.  
“Speaking of kids, we are here. You will find the children in the main hall and if you have any questions you can ask the supervisor there Mrs Morgan,” they usher us towards a big wooden set of double door, quickly giving us the instructions. “Unfortunately I must take my leave, but it was a pleasure meeting you Mrs Fabian, and your son too. Good day.” Nervously they duck from my glares. I narrow my eyes as they depart, but I think back to my son. I Stopping in front of the doors, I bend down to his level and grip his shoulder.

“Alistair, are you sure you’re up for this?” I ask gently. “I know you where excited, but you don’t have to come in. You can go back to the front desk and let me take care of everything.”  
“Thanks, mom, but I’m good,” he says with a little shake in his voice. “I barely remember my grandma anyway, so it’s fine. I just- I’m going to wait here for a bit, okay?”  
“You are so strong my love. Take all the time you need; remember you can always come to me, dear.” 

I look at Alistair with a sad smile. I open my arms, and he hurriedly hugs me. I never met his grandmother, but I remember the lost, scared little boy I adopted almost three years ago. He lost his parents when he was very young, but his grandmother took him in. He lost everything when his grandmother died, the life he slowly built and the rest of his happiness. The cruelty he experiences in the foster system didn’t help his mental state. Since then, the system and his mother are sore subjects. But as I look at him now, grown up and more confident, I feel so proud of him. I kiss him on the forehead and ruffle his hair.

“Chin up kiddo,” I say to lighten the mood. “After today, you’re going to be a big brother!”  
“Yeah, okay,” with misty eyes, he makes an effort to smile a bit. “Thank you, mom.”  
“Anytime, my little prince.” I stand up, facing the door. “Come in whenever you feel you’re ready. I’ll be by the front desk talking with the supervisor.” I see him nod his head a little, so I let go of him, and head inside the main hall. 

__.—. __.—. __.—. __.—. __.—. __.—. __.—. __.—. __.—. __.—. __.—. __.—.__

— — — — — FLASHBACK — — — — —  
It was supposed to be a typical day.

Since it was the summer, it was typical for me to wake up in the late afternoon. On one morning, I got out of bed and went to my grandma’s door. I peeked in and saw her still asleep in bed. I had quietly closed the door behind me and made my way to the kitchen to make breakfast for us. I was rare for me to wake up before my grandma, so I wanted to surprise her. In the kitchen, I made some basic breakfast that was probably half burned. I waited for granny to wake up, but I felt something was wrong. I was getting antsy, and with every passing minute, this feeling wasn’t going away. 

Finally, I went back up the stairs to granny’s room. I listen to the door; maybe she was taking her time to dress. Probably, so why do I feel dread. I knock a few times on her door, calling her name. However, I didn’t get any replies. I pushed the door open and turned the lights on. Something was terribly wrong; it was making the hair on my arms stand on end. I walked into her room, ‘Granny?’ I called out quietly. ‘Granny you need to wake up.’ I got to her bedside, and immediately I saw her too pale skin and her face void of anything. ‘Granny?’ I went to shake her arm, and it was cold to the touch. I got frantic. ‘GRANDMA?! Please, you need to Wake Up!!’ I started to cry and shout so loud the neighbours heard me. 

Everything after was a big blur of tears, denial, and loud crying. In the end, the doctors determined my grandmother died from a heart attack in her sleep. A peaceful death. After that, they put me into the system with the other boys. And the nightmares began.  
— — — — — End — — — — —

Breath in and breath out. ‘Just like mom taught you.’ Breath in and breath out. Alistair goes through his breathing exercise to calm his racing heart. He breaths deep, shaky breaths and wipes away the small pearls of tears forming in his eyes. ‘Get yourself together man,’ he thinks to himself. ‘This isn’t supposed to bother me anymore!’ 

“Argh!” Alistair says out loud in frustration, uncurls himself from his fatal position by the wall.  
He looks up to the clock in the hall and lets out a hiss of annoyance: 15 minutes passed. ‘Why I am so pathetic! It's just a stupid memory!’ he chides himself. Letting out a huff of breath, Alistair straightens up and dusts off his jeans with shaky hands. He needs to show his mom that he is stronger. he can’t keep being this weak. The brunette faces the wooden door with a confident stance and pushes it open. 

The first thing Alistair sees is the number of kids of all ages scattered across the hall. Kids are sitting on worn sofas watching some cartoon on a large TV. A bunch of smaller children play with little building blocks and legos at a play area near the farther corner. A few wooden round tables spread near the entrance where older teens are most likely working on homework. He can also see his mom talking with a tall woman at one of the tables.  
Looking around, they all look relatively happy and except for a boy with short black hair, sitting off to the side with a book in his hands. The boy appears to be a few years younger than him, concentrating on a book and keeping to himself. Alistair does not know what impulse pulls him forward, but he suddenly finds himself walking towards the lonely boy. 

“Hello, why are you here by yourself?” Alistair waves to the boy with a confident smile. The smaller boy flinches from the immediate presence accidentally slamming his book closed and looks up with wide dark eyes. ‘Well done moron. You startled him.’ Alistair thinks as his smile strains. Carefully, he moves to sit beside the younger boy, who shuffles away from brunette and holds his book tighter to his chest. From the corner of his eye, Alistair can see the boy trembling like a leaf in the wind. ‘Okay, start with small talk.’ Alistair decides

“I’m Alistair. Alistair Prince-Fabian,” he introduces himself. “What’s your name?” The other boy stays silent for a while, looking down at his feet. After a few minutes of awkward silence, Alistair stands up to leave when he hears a small mumble, making him stop in his tracks.  
“Could you repeat that? I didn’t hear you,” he asks.  
“…My names Benjamin…” the boy repeats softly. ‘Ok. That’s progress.’  
“Well, it’s nice to meet you, Benjamin.” The brunette extends his hand to Benjamin, which the other hesitantly shakes.  
“How long have you been here?” he sees Benjamin cringe at that, and immediately knows he stepped over an invisible line. “I’m so sorry Benjamin,” Alistair try to amend. “Just ignore what I say, you don’t have to answer anything you don’t—”  
“…It happened 16 months ago. I—” he says quietly. Benjamin closes his eyes a single tear falls down his face. “We-we were on our way ho-home. They should have n-n-never taken that p-path—” More tears start to fall, and his breathing becomes quick and shallow. “It happened so fast—” 

‘He has a panic attack!’ Thinking quickly, Alistair moves in front of the hyperventilating boy and firmly grabs his shoulder. He knows it helps to ground his through. In a clear voice, he loudly calls to the boy “Hey.” Benjamin jolts in his grip but still does not open his eyes.  
“Look at me Benjamin,” he tries again, this time Benjamin looks up with puffy, red eyes. “You’re here now, and you’re alright. Just take deep breaths in and then breath out.” 

Alistair goes through the motion, encouraging Benjamin to follow his example. Breath in and breath out. They do in again. Breath in and breath out. After a couple of minutes, the young boy’s breathing finally slows down to big huffs of hot air, and Alistair sighs in relief. The younger boy looks to the older teen with tired eyes, but there is also a glint of something else deep within the depths of his dark brown eyes.

“…Ben,” he unexpectedly says in a quiet tone “…You can call me Ben.” Alistair perks up with a blinding smile.  
“Well Ben,” Alistair starts, letting go of Ben’s shoulders. “Do you want to know about the time I ran head first into a glass door?” Ben nods and lifts his head to look at Alistair. The older boy grins widely and starts his tale.  
“It all started because of a game of tag. So it was a day off for my mom, and we decided to visit my friend Conner at his house, they have a huge yard. Anyways, Conner and I don’t really like board games like monopoly ‘cuz that gets way too competitive way too fast, so instead…”

~ ~ Meanwhile ~ ~  
Melisa sits at a desk with the head supervisor Mrs Hobber, an older woman with bleach blonde hair and a dark blue turtleneck sweater, talking about her experience in the adoption process and answering a few questions about a reliable source of income, the condition of her home and other such matters. The older woman looks over the pile of paperwork in front of her and nods her head 

“Well Mrs Fabian,” Mrs Hobber says standing up and smiling brightly. “It’s my pleasure to say that you exceed our expectations. All of the papers fill out perfectly, you meet all the standards, and everything seems to be in the right order.”  
“Thank you Mrs Hobber; it was a pleasure talking with you.” They exchange a polite handshake and a quick hug.  
“The pleasure is all mine. I take pleasure in helping kind women such as yourself,” the head supervisor insists, causing the young mother to blush at the compliment. “Now, are you ready to meet the young boy.”  
“Yes I am,” Melisa replies excitedly. “I hope he will accept to come with us home.”  
“I am sure he will,” Mrs Hobber reassures gently. “However please remember to give him space when you see him, he went through a tough time. So the little dear is a bit shy around people, and he doesn’t like to be touched or out noises, but he’s an absolute angel to have.”  
“Of course! I will also look into the child therapist you recommended to help with his trauma.”  
“That is all I can ask. Right this way now Mrs Fabian, Benjamin should be reading somewhere around the back.” Melisa and Mrs Hobber set off to the side of the room in search of a young boy with black hair. 

Walking past a group of older kids, Melisa thinks of her son probably still outside of the room. *sigh* ‘I would have wanted to see Alistair’s reaction to his new brother.’ Melisa thinks to herself. As Mrs Hobber leads her to a quieter corner further from the wooden doors, she is surprised to see a familiar mop of light brown hair and hears the sound of Alistair’s boisterous laughter. ‘When did he come in?’ Melisa wonders to herself. ‘Anyways, I can bring him with us now that he’s here.’

“Mrs Hobber,” she calls, getting a soft hum in response. “I would like to bring my son along too. I heard him earlier.”  
“Certainly,” the supervisor says turning around. “Where did you say your son is?”  
“Oh, he’s sitting in the corner with one of the other kids,” Melisa replies, pointing towards Alistair sitting beside a smaller boy with raven hair and a loose black blouse. “They seem to be having fun.” The supervisor follows her gaze towards the two boys now laughing; one with an energetic burst, and others with a small smile on his pale lips. At sight, she smiles brightly.  
“Would you look at that,” Mrs Hobber says to no-one in particular.  
“What is it?” Melisa asks, mildly concerned. “Is something wrong?”  
“No no, there is nothing. You see,” the older woman reassures gesturing to the pair of boys. “Your son seems to have already found his new brother.” 

Melisa tilts her head a bit confused and looks back at the two teens. ‘What does she mean—’ her thoughts are cut off by the sudden realisation of the situation. Alistair was having fun and laughing with a younger boy who has black hair and holding a book loosely in his lap. That boy must be Benjamin. ‘Oh, the coincidence.” She snickers at the thought.  
“Let's introduce the boy then,” she eagerly says, getting a nod from the other woman. As the two women come closer, they hear the end of the conversation.  
“I finally tagged him, and he started chasing after me. I got so excited that I forgot the backdoor screen was closed earlier. So I belt it towards the door, thinking I can hide in the house when all of a sudden I heard him scream my name a second too late. I ended up giving myself a concussion from that stunt, nearly knocked myself out completely.” Ben manages to laugh freely, while Alistair sheepishly rubs at his head laughing himself. 

Unfortunately, the moment is quickly over in the presence of a shadow lapping at their feet. The first to notice, Ben’s laughter swiftly catches in his throat and his previously relaxed body tenses up beside Alistair. At his friend's reaction, Alistair looks up to see his mom a few feet in front of them with an older looking woman. His mom could help with this situation. The teen hears the quickening pace of the smaller boy’s breathing and turns back to comfort his new friend. He softly nudges Ben as the younger boy burrows himself closer into the brunette’s side. 

“It’s fine Ben,” he tries to reassure the frightened teen. “That’s just my mom, and she’s the best person in the world. You can trust her; I promise.”  
“Hello you two,” Melisa greets the boys with a kind smile. “How are you feeling Alistair?”  
“I’m fine mom,” he brushes off her concern with a slight smile. “How is everything going?”  
“Oh, it’s all going great. I just finished talking with Mrs Hobber here about the adoption, and everything is finished!” Melisa chirps, feinting ignorance at the situation. She does not miss the way both boys seem to freeze at her words, the way her boy’s eyes widen before they narrow slightly. ‘How interesting,’ she thinks to herself.  
“What do you mean?” Alistair asks dumbstruck, unconsciously clinging harder to Ben. “We didn’t even talk about who to adopt.”  
“You don’t need to worry about that dear. All the papers are already signed,” Melisa says glowing, in contrast to the terrified expression on the boys. The supervisor, who understands what the young mother is doing, is smiling ever slightly. “Actually, I was coming to get you so we can meet your new sibling. You ready to go sweetly?” 

The poor boys cling to each other, both nearly in tears. However, the next thing that happens will stay one of the first most cherished memories for the growing family. All of a sudden, Alistair stands up to his full height, which is still quite a bit short than Melisa, with Ben gripping his arm and stares at his mother with strong defiance burning in his lime eyes.  
“No mom,” he declares solemnly. “I don’t care who you chose, but I’m not going anywhere with Ben.” He took a stance against his mother. The woman who adopted him, took him in when he was sad, broken and left to suffer. Alistair shakes from anger in him about not including him, but he is also shaking from shame he is feeling from his loud outburst. 

“How can you do that without me!” he continues to exclaim. “I should be part of this affection; it's going to affect me too. And I’m not going to accept anyone else as a brother or a sister!” Melisa is taken aback from Alistair’s outburst, feeling proud at her son’s open defence for the new friend he made. Proud he grew so much from the little boy scared of every shadow. ‘I think that's enough playing with them,’ Melisa thinks to herself.  
“That is very good to hear sweetheart because neither of you needs to worry,” she says, drawing confusion from the two teens. With a face-splitting smile, the woman goes on to say. “Alistair Prince-Fabian, meet your new little brother Benjamin Azari.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everyone! Please leave a comment and kudos on your way out! Thank you!!
> 
> ~ Feather


End file.
